Yoga is not a religion. It is a science, science of well-being, science of youthfulness, a science of integrating body, mind and soul. ― Amit Ray
Yoga became a big part of my life. And the more I drive on the road of discovery, the more I get this bitter-sweet feeling about how many things I still don’t know… and how great it is to learn more and more collecting the pieces all together and solving the puzzle.
Where did it all begin?
I’ve been practising yoga for more than 10 years. Nevertheless, the understanding of yoga kicked in not until recently, about 4 years ago. Naturally it came out of observations I made during countless yoga classes. And this is what I found out and what I’m working on ever since…
3 Things You Need to Know About Yoga
1. Power, Stamina, Energy
Yoga is about stamina. It’s about generating that energy, power that fires you up to keep pushing. It motivates you to go beyond the limits and makes you reconsider “what’s possible” and what’s not.
That power gives you new abilities to advance in your personal yoga journey. The more you practise, the more powerful and resistant your body becomes.
You see, naturally, I’m not that big on this “power” notion. My body is not that resistant and a simple plank pose is torturous sometimes when I perform it. But at the same time, I know exactly what I should keep my focus on.
2. Balance
There was a time when I was absolutely manic about balancing poses in yoga. I was so eager to do them all at once that I fell far from the reason. Literally.
The name of this beauty is bakasana or the crow pose. There was a time when I was completely captivated with this asana. To me, it seemed virtually impossible to ever perform it (due to self-imposed limiting beliefs). So I practised vigorously at home. And when I succeeded to my surprise, I rushed to the yoga studio to show off my new achievement. I felt happy and proud. Somehow I felt as if I conquered that posture and it couldn’t intimidate me anymore.
With thoughts like that, I came back home and decided to perform bakasana once again. Imagine my surprise when my face hit the hardwood floor and the stars flew out of my eyes as my mind went spinning!
Silly me… I was stressing and pushing… where I should have just let go, focused and found that balance I so curiously sought…
3. Flexibility
Some people are flexible by nature, some people work hard to actually get there. And it’s normal. As I said somewhere before, time is always on our side when it comes to practicing yoga.
As for me, naturally I’m abnormally flexible and it’s challenging in some way because I have to go an extra mile every day with yoga asanas when they ask for mobility. I go an extra mile to actually feel something in my muscles and tendons.
Underline is simple. I’m naturally flexible, irritably bad with balancing yoga postures and when it comes to poses with some resistance and stamina involvement – wow… do I still have a lot of work to do! And I like it. I like my challenges especially when they make me stronger.
What will you be working on today: stamina, balance or flexibility?
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